Well, that sucks.
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NFL Thread: 2025-26 Season
- Thread starter adjectivenoun
- Start date
What makes this even worse is that Sam Darnold really didn’t even have that good of a stat line in my opinion. Of all the games for him to have coming back to Minnesota he finished 14 for 26 with 128 yards and no touchdowns. I genuinely can’t decide how bad I feel about our win this afternoon/evening. Getting shutout 26 to nothing when Darnold played like that and JSN was unusually quiet for a good while… for our first shutout in a decade (has it really been that long? I could have sworn it was more recent) I want to feel great about how we played especially defensively but I just can’t in good faith. The Vikings need a franchise quarterback ASAP, and possibly a deeper look at their current coaching staff.
Our status: so back.
(This team's not doing shit even if they make the playoffs, but let me have this.)
(This team's not doing shit even if they make the playoffs, but let me have this.)
Co-opting this thread for my personal CFP rankings. Tiers are general quality buckets.
As I was writing this post, the actual CFP rankings got released in the meantime. I won't spoil, but wow, I knew this was possible, but color me surprised.
Favorites
1. Indiana (13-0)
2. Georgia (12-1)
3. Ohio State (12-1)
Georgia got a fantastic 12th win by smashing a possible playoff team, has great pedigree, and has fantastic wins with a very OK close loss to a possible playoff team. Its one major knock was failing to dominate opponents, but crushing Bama punctuates them being much more dominant this month, shredding Texas, and keeping Georgia Tech well in the rearview despite the unimpressive margin.
Dark Horse
4. Texas Tech (12-1)
Lacking the scheduling and pedigree to slip up higher, Texas Tech's domination of quality opponents is remarkable, with 3 top-15 victories all above three touchdowns. Geez. When I'm looking at teams who can compete with the big boys, but haven't yet played them, "utterly smoking the second-tier" is a great start.
Safe
5. Texas A&M (11-1)
6. Notre Dame (10-2)
7. Ole Miss (11-1)
8. Oklahoma (10-2)
Notre Dame had an unremarkable start to the season, but since Week 2, they have won every game by double digits. Only one was as low as 10, too; every other was by at least two touchdowns, and most by three or more. It's easy to think Notre Dame has done nothing because of their nonconference schedule, but they played some real games against the third tier (USC, Navy, Boise State, and Pitt, 2x AP ranked, 2x AP honorable mention), blowing out three of those. They still need their performance last season for me to rank them this high, but their current season was still good. Losing to TAM and Miami by a combined 4, especially at the start, is hardly embarrassing.
They're not listed, but I should mention Oregon. Oregon's resume is awful. I'm wholly unconvinced they can compete at the top level. A last second field goal against Iowa and a double overtime win in Penn State are probably its second and third best wins. Unless you prefer them unremarkably beating Washington, #38 in the current AP poll? At least Penn State is 17 in FPI. Unironically worse wins than Notre Dame, let alone Oklahoma (in Alabama, Michigan, and decent midrange SEC wins) or Ole Miss (winning in Oklahoma and nuking Tulane). I'm wholly unconvinced
Bubble (IN)
9. Oregon (11-1)
10. Miami (10-2)
Bubble (OUT)
11. Alabama (10-3)
12. Texas (9-3)
Good Try
13. Vanderbilt (10-2)
14. Utah (10-2)
Miami versus Alabama is the main question here. I was bracing to bring Alabama in, and teams shouldn't be punished for competitively losing a bonus championship game, especially against the titan of Georgia. But getting embarrassed is another thing. They should still, like, be trying! This also feeds into Alabama relying on the first 5 weeks for their resume. Since Halloween, their best win is a 11 point home win over LSU. Sneaking and slippinng past the likes of South Carolina and Auburn – even if a rivalry game – is unimpressive. Miami has some issues here too, relying on its Week 1 Notre Dame win, but it nuked much of its endseason, including a decent opponent in Pitt on the road.
Really, I could understand Miami or Alabama going either way, but I can't give Alabama the ticket after it got nuked while already on the edge of the bubble, when winning is most important.
Texas has the high profile wins to show it can compete at the top level, but you gotta win games here, and they didn't do that enough. At least they wouldn't have to deal with Florida in the playoffs.
As I was writing this post, the actual CFP rankings got released in the meantime. I won't spoil, but wow, I knew this was possible, but color me surprised.
Favorites
1. Indiana (13-0)
2. Georgia (12-1)
3. Ohio State (12-1)
Georgia got a fantastic 12th win by smashing a possible playoff team, has great pedigree, and has fantastic wins with a very OK close loss to a possible playoff team. Its one major knock was failing to dominate opponents, but crushing Bama punctuates them being much more dominant this month, shredding Texas, and keeping Georgia Tech well in the rearview despite the unimpressive margin.
Dark Horse
4. Texas Tech (12-1)
Lacking the scheduling and pedigree to slip up higher, Texas Tech's domination of quality opponents is remarkable, with 3 top-15 victories all above three touchdowns. Geez. When I'm looking at teams who can compete with the big boys, but haven't yet played them, "utterly smoking the second-tier" is a great start.
Safe
5. Texas A&M (11-1)
6. Notre Dame (10-2)
7. Ole Miss (11-1)
8. Oklahoma (10-2)
Notre Dame had an unremarkable start to the season, but since Week 2, they have won every game by double digits. Only one was as low as 10, too; every other was by at least two touchdowns, and most by three or more. It's easy to think Notre Dame has done nothing because of their nonconference schedule, but they played some real games against the third tier (USC, Navy, Boise State, and Pitt, 2x AP ranked, 2x AP honorable mention), blowing out three of those. They still need their performance last season for me to rank them this high, but their current season was still good. Losing to TAM and Miami by a combined 4, especially at the start, is hardly embarrassing.
They're not listed, but I should mention Oregon. Oregon's resume is awful. I'm wholly unconvinced they can compete at the top level. A last second field goal against Iowa and a double overtime win in Penn State are probably its second and third best wins. Unless you prefer them unremarkably beating Washington, #38 in the current AP poll? At least Penn State is 17 in FPI. Unironically worse wins than Notre Dame, let alone Oklahoma (in Alabama, Michigan, and decent midrange SEC wins) or Ole Miss (winning in Oklahoma and nuking Tulane). I'm wholly unconvinced
Bubble (IN)
9. Oregon (11-1)
10. Miami (10-2)
Bubble (OUT)
11. Alabama (10-3)
12. Texas (9-3)
Good Try
13. Vanderbilt (10-2)
14. Utah (10-2)
Miami versus Alabama is the main question here. I was bracing to bring Alabama in, and teams shouldn't be punished for competitively losing a bonus championship game, especially against the titan of Georgia. But getting embarrassed is another thing. They should still, like, be trying! This also feeds into Alabama relying on the first 5 weeks for their resume. Since Halloween, their best win is a 11 point home win over LSU. Sneaking and slippinng past the likes of South Carolina and Auburn – even if a rivalry game – is unimpressive. Miami has some issues here too, relying on its Week 1 Notre Dame win, but it nuked much of its endseason, including a decent opponent in Pitt on the road.
Really, I could understand Miami or Alabama going either way, but I can't give Alabama the ticket after it got nuked while already on the edge of the bubble, when winning is most important.
Texas has the high profile wins to show it can compete at the top level, but you gotta win games here, and they didn't do that enough. At least they wouldn't have to deal with Florida in the playoffs.
Team (versus CFP; versus AP)
I especially like:
Notre Dame (+5; +3)
Texas A&M (+2; +2)
The AP poll agreed with me flipping Georgia over Ohio State, but the CFP rankings did not.
I especially dislike:
Oregon (-4; -4)
BYU (-3; -3)
Utterly shocked the committee skunked ND when it did not play, one bubble competitor did not play either, and the other bubble competitor got humiliated. I don't really value H2H, which is part of it. But bigger picture, 3-loss Alabama was the clear one to remove. Maybe they really strongly believe that earning a bonus conference championship and losing shouldn't punish you? Now though, why even try in these games, if you can get embarrassed and still be totally OK?
I especially like:
Notre Dame (+5; +3)
Texas A&M (+2; +2)
The AP poll agreed with me flipping Georgia over Ohio State, but the CFP rankings did not.
I especially dislike:
Oregon (-4; -4)
BYU (-3; -3)
Utterly shocked the committee skunked ND when it did not play, one bubble competitor did not play either, and the other bubble competitor got humiliated. I don't really value H2H, which is part of it. But bigger picture, 3-loss Alabama was the clear one to remove. Maybe they really strongly believe that earning a bonus conference championship and losing shouldn't punish you? Now though, why even try in these games, if you can get embarrassed and still be totally OK?
As of yesterday, December 7th, 2025, the Kansas City Chiefs are not limited from the playoffs just yet, but they can no longer win the division, as they have a… I’m not saying the cringe numbers, but the Denver Broncos being 11-2 at this point… somehow, now make it impossible for the Chiefs to win the AFC West this season.
Normally, something like this wouldn’t mean too, too much, but the Chiefs’ nine-season AFC West division title streak was the second longest streak of such in NFL history. The record continues to be held by the New England Patriots winning 11 straight AFC East titles from 2009-10 to 2019-20, incidentally also making the 2010s Patriots the only NFL team ever to win their division every season within the same decade. The longest active division title streak and the only possible instance of a “decade sweep” remaining both now belong to the 2020s Buffalo Bills, but this also looks unlikely to hold as the New England Patriots are currently projected to win the AFC East at 11-2. Should the Bills lose their own streak, the active record would then go to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers… who are also tied in the standings with the Carolina Panthers at 7-6.
The cherry on top that makes all of this even funnier is that at the time of writing this post, both the Broncos and the Patriots could still technically miss the playoffs if they lose out since they don’t play each other during the 2025-26 regular season. Just how far can we take this rabbit hole of a situation we’re in?
Normally, something like this wouldn’t mean too, too much, but the Chiefs’ nine-season AFC West division title streak was the second longest streak of such in NFL history. The record continues to be held by the New England Patriots winning 11 straight AFC East titles from 2009-10 to 2019-20, incidentally also making the 2010s Patriots the only NFL team ever to win their division every season within the same decade. The longest active division title streak and the only possible instance of a “decade sweep” remaining both now belong to the 2020s Buffalo Bills, but this also looks unlikely to hold as the New England Patriots are currently projected to win the AFC East at 11-2. Should the Bills lose their own streak, the active record would then go to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers… who are also tied in the standings with the Carolina Panthers at 7-6.
The cherry on top that makes all of this even funnier is that at the time of writing this post, both the Broncos and the Patriots could still technically miss the playoffs if they lose out since they don’t play each other during the 2025-26 regular season. Just how far can we take this rabbit hole of a situation we’re in?
I believe that this is what is called "regression to the mean."
I'm so glad that the Chiefs got smoked by the Eagles last season because it means I don't have to pretend they were worthy of their successes forever. They were an uninspiring and mediocre team propped up by a series of absurd bounces, questionable officiating decisions, and collapses from other AFC teams. Their current record is who they were last year, too — the ball is just bouncing the other way this time around. A proper retool is in order. They'll always have a chance as long as Mahomes can cook, but they need a proper #1 receiver to replace Kelce (they've brought on a bunch of fast guys who aren't really playmakers, and the offense is suffering for it), as well as a sturdy offensive line. They're far from dead if they can manage these things, but I'm calling this season lost even though they have a theoretical chance to make the playoffs.
Def the worst from a SB MVP… I don’t understand why he wasn’t running way more. The Chargers tend to give up decent yards to running QBs.
I’ve seen this happen on r/retrobowl, does that count for anything?